Lesson 1: Crayon Engraving

Objective: To have the children create engravings with a variety of line styles and line properties.

Vocabulary:

contour lines - Lines that show an object's shape or form.

dot - A small point, mark, or spot

engraving - Carving the lines of an artwork into a block or metal plate, which is covered with ink and pressed onto paper.

implied line - A line that is broken or has spaces, such as a dotted line or dashed line. An implied line can also be a repeated shape, repeated form, or the edge of a shape or form.

line - A dot that has length (one-dimension) which begins at one point and continues to another point for a certain distance in a certain direction. Lines can have length, direction, weight, color, style, continuous or implied (broken), and have focus (clear or blurry).

line properties - The physical characteristics of a line are length, direction, weight, color, continuous or implied (broken), and have focus (clear or blurry).

line style - The common names we give to lines, such as straight, angled, zigzag, jagged, curved, curvy, curly, bumpy, wavy, scalloped, spiral, etc...

outline - The line along the outside edge of a shape.

Interior in Yellow and Blue by Henri Matisse

Kinds of Lines

Look at the different kinds of lines in Interior in Yellow and Blue by Henri Matisse and find some of these lines in the objects around you. You may find lines on the pages of a notebook. You may also see lines that reach from the floor to the top of the door. What other kinds of lines do you see?
In Interior in Yellow and Blue, find lines that are straight, curved, and zigzag. What other kind of lines do you see?
Lines that outline objects are called contour lines. Point out some objects in the painting that have contour lines.

Think Critically - Tell what you have learned.

Studio Time: Crayon Engraving

Materials:

color pencils, white paper, black crayon, engraving tool (paper clip, tooth pick, fork, pen cap, or other scratching tool, and scratching paper (*optional).

Plan

Think about a line design you would like to make. Create a sketch of a picture that uses a variety of line properties and styles.
Check list:
- Line Properties - Length, direction, weight, color, actual (continuous) or implied (broken), and focus.
- Line Styles - straight, angled, zigzag, jagged, curved, curvy, curly, bumpy, wavy, scalloped, spiral, etc...

Create

Use colored pencils to draw thick stripes on white paper. Cover all of the paper.
*If you are using Scratch Art paper skip steps 1 (this step) and step 2.
Use a black crayon to color over the stripes. Cover all the paper.

3. Use an engraving tool to scratch the design through the black crayon. The colors will show through your design.

Quick tip: Use engraving tool gently at first to avoid tearing the paper until you understand how much pressure to apply.

Reflect - Tell about your artwork.

Photograph and Submit your work on Google Classroom.

Photograph sketches as well as completed artwork.
"Add" (attach) to Google Classroom assignment.
"Mark as done" to submit your work for a grade.

Challenge: Imagination Painting

Create an abstract painting with watercolors by dribbling paint and moving paper, let dry and add contour lines to make things.